Goran_M

I just saw what you guys said about the Duchess in those screenshots. Don't know what else to say except thanks from both of us! Goran and Theo

Yes, sorry, I knew that you guys would have the detailed manual. The link was to provide the basics for those who are not sure about main and standby instruments and their locations etc. No probz, Mikester

Thanks Mike but we have the AOM which has over 3500 pages. The manuals on smartcockpit are cut down versions of the original.

The Saab I modeled is the one that is used in the POH. All panel jpegs are imported into Blender and modeled accordingly. Then we use photos I was able to get of a Saab panel to make sure everything is there and that is then textured accordingly. I wasn't able to get into an actual cockpit but I know a Saab 340 pilot who was able to get me a whole bunch of photos.

I think you're talking about the airspeed indicator. There is a main ASI to the left of the pilots displays and there is a standby ASI under the artificial horizon Goran

Work continues on the Saab. Other sections of the panel are being "fine tuned" with the texturing. When we have more to show, we will. We're going a little insane with some of the modeling and texture detail with this one. Goran

Nicolas makes a lot of noise about a lot of things.

Sorry for the very late reply. I just didn't see it. Anything we are not aware of, we will be aware of as time passes. I have a retired 747-200 Flight Engineer who is going to help me with testing and he has already given me quite a bit of info. When the 747 is ready to start test flying, he'll be pointing out any mistakes and refinements that are needed. The flaps are going to be a nightmare along with the landing gear. Getting it all to work properly will be quite a lot of work. Hopefully it won't take me too long to get it all moving smoothly.

Here's the first textured screenshot of part of the panel. We're only showing a small portion of it as we are still working on the modeling and texturing for the rest of it. I'm adding small, subtle details that were not there in the previous 3d model and Theo is adding more details in the texturing. We're going hammer and tongs on this one as we want to get it finished asap. Looking at everything we need to do, we expect (and HOPE) it to be done in the next 2 months. As always, comments and feedback welcome.

We're working on it. I used some the same modeling techniques on the Sundowner that I used on the Duchess. I also did all the animations from scratch. Theo re-textured some objects. Problem now is that Theo is unable to do anything at certain times because of the earthquake in Christchurch (which is where he lives). His power keeps cutting out and this is the time I was going to get him to re do the exterior textures. We still have the panel regions to do (manipulators and displays) so it shouldn't be long.

It will have around the same, maybe even more polygons, than Peters A380. On top of that, an insane amount of textures and plug in work. Extremely unlikely it will run smoothly in a simulator.

Gyro drift is not modelled on this plane. I think the heading bug problem you are experiencing is something that was my fault when animating the panel. The keyframing is slightly off (by about 2-5°) and has been fixed. It now follows and lines up with the correct magnetic heading. This is completely automatic and there is no adjustments needed. To program a true heading requires plug in work as magnetic variation varies with your position on the earth on the latitude. You could always allow for this using a WAC and adjusting the heading bug on the HSI. I know at around 133°S latitude, the magnetic variation is about 12°. Regarding the wet compass, I'll talk to Theo and see what he can do about making bolder hash marks. Thanks for your comments. Our next project will either be the 747-200 or Saab 340. We're working on both at the same time so we'll see which one gets done first. Goran

Just to make it clear, this is not my project. Read under the picture. It was a joke post. It's someone else's work. I seriously doubt this aircraft, modeled like that, would have no fewer than 1.5 million polygons.

Add the temperature bug to the fix list. Temperatures of less than zero were showing up without the negative sign. That has been fixed tonight. Thanks guys for posting these bugs and emailing me about some of them. I'm almost 100% sure we ironed out all the bugs out of this one and the updated files should be available soon.

Not up yet. Cameron will let everyone know and then you'll be able to download it. Probably in the next week

I decided to show the secret project I was working on last year. Hopefully it will be ready for Christmas. Just something I decided to work on during the weekends... ALMOST HAD YA! It's something someone else did at the cgsociety forums. Modeling like this totally amazes me!

I think I nailed them all. Here's what's been fixed ASI needle. (continues past 200 but very slowly regardless of speed) HDG Bug (Was not indicating correct heading when compared to GPS. Fixed) Directional Gyro not lining up with correct heading. Fixed HSI and Stormscope. Swapped positions...Finally! Indicator added in the Kollsman window. MP gauge corrected. Values were slightly off. EGT fixed. Values were slightly off. Prop speed and feathering fixed. Could not bring the prop pitch back far enough in some cruise settings. Beacon light switch added. Airspeed was approx. 6-10kts faster than what the charts indicated. Speeds are now accurate to within 2% Nose gear now touching the ground. Looks better with the HSI and SS swapped.

There are custom sounds for the Sundowner already.

We have 2 pilots that have been modeled and textured. I have to animate each one and then export to x plane. It's still our plan to add a pilot. The update is nearly ready. I went over the modeling and gauges and rebuilt quite a bit of the plane. We are re organizing the objects and making sure the textures can be read. This involved a few steps that are nearly done. On top of all this, some things have been done to the flight model, including an added aileron trim as well as a few other adjustments. It will be ready very soon.

Fine tuned the airfoils in airfoil maker from actual airfoil figures. Just a few things were changed to reflect more accuracy. Fuel flow was adjusted to be within 0.5% to 2% accuracy (depending on altitude and how accurate the mixture setting is). Drag co efficient was adjusted as the aircraft was flying a little too fast for it's engine settings. The speeds are now within 1%-3% of chart figures (depending on altitude and how accurate the mixtures setting is). The HSI and Storm Scope swapping is proving tricky since it's split into 2 separate obj files and the Stormscope is on a completely separate obj file. Not to mention the Main panel being on yet another obj file. So it's a "lining up" nightmare. I also have to manually edit the code of 2 of the obj files after swapping the gauges since Blender is not exporting 2 dataref values properly in 2 files and I also have to manually enter the manipulator codes in the cockpit obj file after each export. Who would think swapping 2 gauges over would cause this much drama. :-\

When I read your review, I thought you were mistaking the reflection of the seats in the windows for a texture. Thank you for coming in the forums and addressing it. Anyway, happy to see you are enjoying it. Have fun and if you would like to know more about the Duchess and it's features, please download the tutorial from the Duchess forum. Goran

The 747-400 is not my project. This project belongs to Nick and Dennis from XPFW. I will be helping with some 3D objects and Theo will do the texturing, but as for the programming and majority of the modelling, that is all Nick and Dennis. As for what is being added, a very large part of the systems have already been programmed. The FMC is obviously going to be the biggest challenge but it is moving along.

A wise man once said...When all is quiet, many things are happening. Can't show you screenshots yet. Theo is going over the textures and re doing quite a few of them. We have big plans for this plane. The modeling is getting an overhaul. We both decided the panel wasn't good enough so I started building a new one yesterday. All but the MCP is done. Expect new screenshots with new textures in about a week.

Easy enough to do. Also, wings will be fixed.

Absolutely no one stopping you. Read up on 3D modelling, texturing and programming and give it your best.